


Courage

by Charamei



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Character Study, Gen, POV Female Character, doing things differently
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-14
Updated: 2011-07-14
Packaged: 2017-10-21 09:52:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/223862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Charamei/pseuds/Charamei
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are many kinds of courage. Some of them don't involve starting revolutions.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Courage

Susan was never much good at the running. There are days when she wonders how she survived PT at Coal Hill, never mind multiple Dalek invasions.

There are people who like to tell her that she's not very brave, too, although they don't really mean it. They mean _where's the Doctor when we need him_ and _he's abandoned us to this mess he made_ and _you'll have to do_ and _I'm scared, make it go away_ , and there are only so many times that she can explain that bravery doesn't have to mean charging about with a sonic screwdriver, that the changes Gallifrey needs have to come from the inside, that patience is a virtue –

That's usually where they call her a coward. It's a shame, because the next part goes like this:

Courage isn't charging about with a sonic screwdriver. Not always. Sometimes, courage is staying put, keeping calm and carrying on, day in, day out, making the world a tiny bit better in as tiny a way as you can. Courage is waiting for _thirty years_ and never letting yourself give up, because he said he'd come back; courage is leading the resurrection of a society that has every reason to hate aliens, that would lynch you if it found out how many hearts you had. Courage is growing seven babies in a secret laboratory before you finally get a viable combination of human and Time Lord DNA, and then it's accepting that the only viable mix is far more human than not. Courage is sitting on the Omega memorial every day and just talking.

She never says anything too radical. They've arrested her a few times, for the look of the thing, but she always brings tea and biscuits with her and more often than not, the guards stop by for a chat. Perhaps it's the very lack of radicalism that upsets people; but radicalism isn't the point. Revolution isn't the point. Susan wouldn't know what to do with a revolution if she did accidentally start one (she'd turn it over to Romana, probably, and keep talking in the square). The point is: look at me. I'm disagreeing. _And so can you_.

People are beginning to realise. She hears more mutterings now; occasionally, she even hears something said at a normal pitch, though there haven't been any shouts as yet. The number of people wanting a revolution (expecting her to lead a revolution) is increasing. Slowly, Gallifrey is waking up. It just needs time.

And Susan is _very_ good at waiting.

So she keeps talking, and waits for change.


End file.
